Confession
by 32-bit Mandarin Orange
Summary: Misty has a dark secret about her past that neither of her traveling companions know about. An AAML fic. Please read and review! =^_^=


Note: In this story, Ash is about 14, Misty about 15  
  
When the trio arrived at the cliff, Misty and Brock began to silently set up camp.  
  
Ash was still burning from his victory, so he chattered incessantly over how "cool  
  
and awesome" he was. Misty rolled her eyes, and Brock just smiled.  
  
When everything was ready, Brock said, "I know you're excited, Ash, but go to sleep.  
  
We have a big day of traveling tomorrow."  
  
Ash nodded. "I can get my next badge then! Right Pikachu? We're gonna whip their  
  
asses! We are soooo awesome......"  
  
Misty clucked her tounge loudly. Ash had just started swearing lately, but since it's a  
  
children's show they edited it so no one would ever know. He thinks swearing makes him  
  
manly or something, thought Misty. As if THAT'S ever gonna happen...  
  
She silently crawled into her sleeping bag and looked next to her. Ash was already in his,  
  
and he was so close she could almost touch him. She tried to ignore the pounding of her  
  
heart and decided to turn over so she wouldn't have to stare at his back. Suddenly he  
  
shifted around to face her, making her heart beat twice as fast.  
  
"So how did I look Misty? I was great, wasn't I?"  
  
"Yeah, sure, great," she said, and the lack of enthusiasm in her voice was fairly evident.  
  
She had just noticed the surrounding area was very familiar...  
  
"What's the matter? You lying to me? Because I did look cool."  
  
She snorted and turned around, but she could still feel the heat of his stare on her back...  
  
  
  
Hours later, Ash was awoken suddenly. He pulled his sleeping back closer to him. The  
  
night air had a hint of a chill in it; maybe that was why he had woken up. Then he noticed  
  
that Misty's sleeping bag was empty. His eyes searched around the campsite and finally  
  
he spotted her-she was standing at the edge of the cliff.  
  
Omigod! Screamed a voice in his head, she's gone off and now she's gonna kill herself! I  
  
have to do something! In a fraction of a second, Ash had scampered up the edge of the  
  
cliff where Misty stood.  
  
"Misty? You okay?" He asked, trying to appear calm and cool. Chicks didn't dig frenetic  
  
men, so said Brock. Not that Misty was a chick, he quickly reminded himself. She's just  
  
Misty. He tried not to think about how much he was sweating.  
  
She turned her sapphire eyes up to meet his, and there were tears streaming down her  
  
face.  
  
"Misty??" He'd never seen her crying like this before. In fact, he didn't think he'd ever  
  
seen her crying. Now he was truly alarmed.  
  
"Go away," she sobbed, "Don't look at me." She couldn't bear to have him see her like  
  
this. Face red and puffy, eyes watery, voice hoarse. "I don't need to talk to you."  
  
Ash felt as if he'd been slapped. He backed away a little. Maybe he was feeling a bit  
  
more hurt than he should have. "Misty, are you sick? Do I need to go get Brock? Tell  
  
me, damn it!"  
  
"No...no, don't get Brock," murmured Misty, turning her head. "Just let me be..." She  
  
sat down on the ground and dangled her feet over the side of the cliff, staring out into the  
  
ocean beyond. Nothing, she told herself, not even Ash's presence, could heal the hurt she  
  
felt inside.  
  
Something compelled Ash to join her. He usually wasn't that sensitive, in fact most of the  
  
time he was a typical uncaring guy. But this was the first time he'd ever seen her this  
  
upset, and he wanted to know what was wrong with her.  
  
"What's wrong with you?" He asked in a direct tone.  
  
For a long stretch of time there was silence. Misty kept her eyes stubbornly averted from  
  
him towards the ocean. The tears had stopped, but now she just felt a dull pounding in her  
  
stomach. She couldn't keep this bottled inside her any longer. She needed to tell  
  
someone, anyone.  
  
"I was here before..." She stated, looking down. "At this ocean, on this cliff. I was about  
  
five years old at the time."  
  
"That's why you're upset? That's nothing to be upset about. Hell, I go a lot of places  
  
more than once..."  
  
She smiled a little. "You didn't let me finish, Ash. My parents took me to the ocean a lot.  
  
Do you know this cliff once stuck out a lot further? A big chunk of it crumbled off one  
  
day..." And then her eyes filled with tears again.  
  
Ash looked at her then. With one half of her wet face lit up by the moonlight, her thin  
  
nightgown clinging to her body, and her red hair loose and wild she looked like a totally  
  
different person...suddenly he saw Misty as not "just Misty," but he realized how pretty  
  
she really was. The realization came as an absolute shock to him, and just as he received  
  
one another came his way.  
  
"My parents were on the cliff, Ash." She finally finished, "And they both died,  
  
here, in this very spot."  
  
Ash's mouth dropped open. She'd lost her parents? Misty, tough, tomboyish  
  
Misty was an orphan?  
  
"I didn't know that."He finally managed to say. His voice sounded terribly  
  
akward in the silence. Ash didn't know what to do or say to her. What could he  
  
say? He had a mother, at least, who loved him very much. And Misty had.no  
  
one.  
  
"We were raised by my aunt, but she was a real witch. She never loved us, so we  
  
learned to fend for ourselves. My sisters didn't really like me all that much, either.  
  
I guess they were kind of glad to finally get rid of me..." She drifted off. The  
  
whole story had practically leapt out of her mouth, but now she was embarrassed  
  
that Ash knew so much about her hurts and fears. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to tell  
  
you all this...Let's go back to bed now."  
  
She started to stand up, but Ash stopped her. "Wait, Misty. Hold on." He grabbed  
  
her by the wrist. "I'm really sorry about your parents, Misty. I'm kind of shocked,  
  
I never knew. I just assumed you had two parents at home, or at least one."  
  
Their eyes met. Ash was still holding onto her wrist, and both their hearts began  
  
to pound rapidly.  
  
Neither Pokemon trainer knew what to say. Misty still had tears trickling down  
  
her cheeks, and she wiped them away with her free hand so she wouldn't have to  
  
look into Ash's eyes.  
  
He was so much taller than her now, she realized. He still had the same boyish  
  
gait, but his eyes regarded her with the concern of a friend.  
  
Suddenly he let go of her wrist and pulled her into his chest for a hug. Misty felt  
  
herself blush, and her heart began to flutter madly. What was he doing? She had  
  
only imagined what it would be like to be this close to Ash, but she never thought  
  
he would actually....hug her. Or want to for that matter. This was the moment  
  
she'd been longing for...for so long.  
  
Her head was pressed against his heart, and she could hear it beating as quickly as  
  
her own. She wondered...was he as nervous as she was?  
  
Then it was over. Ash released her and dropped his arms. "I just thought you  
  
needed a hug..." He said lamely, listening to how stupid his voice sounded. "You  
  
know." His face turned red.  
  
She smiled up at him. "Yeah."  
  
Silence.  
  
"Misty?" Oh, man, this is gonna to be hard to say, he thought. But here goes. He needed  
  
to tell her, because he couldn't stand to see her so miserable. Stomach fluttering, he  
  
opened his mouth.  
  
"If you ever feel like no one likes you, even if I act like I don't...I do. Just so you  
  
know." His face was probably even brighter red as he squirmed in embarrassment.  
  
Neither of them could believe that he'd said that. Misty never imagined in a  
  
million years that he would say anything that nice, and Ash could never have  
  
imagined himself saying something like that to a girl...especially Misty.  
  
"Same here," she said quietly, meeting his eyes again, managing to smile a little  
  
through her tears. Here was someone who didn't want her to just get lost and get  
  
out of their sight. He actually cared....  
  
Ash was having doubts for a second after he'd blurted that out. But now, seeing  
  
her smile, it was worth it. "Feel better?" He asked.  
  
"Yes, a little. Thank you, Ash."  
  
"Do you want to go back to camp now?"  
  
She considered this. "No, is it okay if I just stay out here for a while longer, Ash?"  
  
"Yeah. Don't jump off the cliff now, damn it. I'd be pretty depressed."  
  
She snickered. "I won't, I promise." "Okay, well, this is good night, I guess," he said backing away, "Come back soon."  
  
"Good night, Ash." As she watched his broadening shoulders retreat, she turned  
  
back to the ocean and let the breeze ruffle her hair. Her parents had died here, ten  
  
years ago. Her childhood had been neglectful, lonely, because of it. But that was  
  
the past..and now she had her whole future ahead of her. 


End file.
